Chapter 19

I chose an elegant velvet green dress for dinner. Lace adorned the top and along my elbows, giving me a sophisticated look that I hoped would give me some respect.

Orion approached from behind me, easing a necklace around my neck. As he clasped the back, I brushed the chain with my fingers and tilted my head, letting my blonde curls drape over my shoulders. "What's this?" I asked him.

He smiled in the reflection of my mirror. I was in his bedroom, but now I quite liked it here. This was where I had awakened as a goddess and once this was all over, I hoped we could return here and catch up on lost time.

There I go hoping things go my way, again.

"It's a token for good luck," he said, flashing me one of his seductive smiles that had me blushing.

Samael entered the room and took out a similar bracelet from his pocket. He slipped it quietly over my wrist, then brushed his lips over my cheek. "Orion isn't the only one allowed to give you presents."

Azra appeared from the doorway, holding a cherry by the stem with his teeth. He waggled his brows at me.

Rolling my eyes, I turned around and pulled up my dress so I wouldn't step on it. "The others give me pretty jewelry and you have a cherry?" I asked.

He leaned in and talked to me telepathically since his tongue was otherwise occupied. I spotted the stem disappearing halfway into his mouth as he held the cherry out to me expectantly. I took a little trip to my orchard and some of the trees are still alive. I grabbed you one, for luck, he said inside my head.

I blinked at the cherry, now recognizing its unique angelic power. I took it with my teeth, then chewed around the dangerous pit.

One made of pure evil.

Something rebellious inside of me made me swallow both, the fleshy cherry and the pit, too. It had almost killed Azra once, but I was a goddess and fully awakened.

The dual power circled inside my chest before settling, making me smile.

Azra grinned, then revealed he'd tied the cherry stem into a knot with his tongue. He plucked it out of his mouth and tucked the knotted stem into my dress pocket.

Because, of course, any dress I summoned for myself would have pockets.

"You're going to do great, beloved," he whispered before pressing a light kiss to my cheek, then he flicked out his tongue to leave a cherry-flavor line on my lower lip.

I shivered, then curled my fingers through his.

"Let's do this," I said.

Orion claimed me on the curve of my neck with his massive hand, as he liked to do.

Samael took my other hand.

Then I formed a portal. Ares and Hades could make their own.

With nothing else to stop us, I lifted an emerald velvet shoe and stepped through.

The first thing I saw when I entered the dining room was Lucifer's prison.

It had noticeably degraded, leaving his enraged form trapped in midair. A cylinder of solid magic encased him, bubbling every now and then like amber mixed with flakes of gold.

My creation magic had contained him, combined with the other elements of my power. I spotted waves of darkness of my demonspawn form, as well as flickers of diamond dust from my angelic one.

My succubus side had drawn the power of my mates and all of their gathered lust, reinforcing the cage with a prison of silver bars that had begun to melt.

Lucifer was once a king, and he was still a demon. Calamity had changed him into something more terrifying than a prior ruler of Hell. His massive bat-like wings speared upward into the sky as if he was about to attempt to launch himself. The wicked talons curled with darkness and his long tail arched upward as if ready to strike with its pointed end.

His lengthy horns crowned his head, but it was the darkness in his eyes that frightened me.

It wasn't like the empty void of a Dark Mage's gaze. Lucifer held a god inside of him.

I knew what I was looking for, now.

And it was a god of death.

"Daughter!" Derek boomed with glee, startling me.

I had walked in hooked onto the arms of my twins and I stared as my father waltzed around the table with a duo of females on his.

Humanfemales.

Where did he find those?

They completely ignored me as they peered up at him in complete awe. I noted the glazed look in their eyes.

The Incubus King was definitely influencing them. They probably had no idea where they even were.

"What's the meaning of this?" I asked, then took in the other attendees entering the room through various portals.

Not all ones I had created, of course.

My mother, Sonya, entered through one of her making, along with her mates. The portal had probably taken her weeks to form it, so that meant she had been ready.

And the fact that she left the portal open meant that she didn't intend to stay for long. A perpetual pit of fire burned down the hall and I spotted a number of the Incubus King's sons marking it off with velvet red ropes.

She eyed the females on my father's arms with equal distaste, but didn't seem to be surprised. "I'm with our daughter on this one, Derek. Do you care to explain?"

The Incubus King huffed. "Jealous, my dear? Don't you have enough mates to appease you?" he asked, eyeing the four males at her side.

A vampire, a dragon shifter, a half-angel and one of his human sons were my mother's companions. I'd grown to learn them, over time, and I knew that it wasn't a matter of "appeasing" my mother.

They were her resolved sins, just like my males were my Virtues.

I also knew that the Incubus King was an unresolved sin, as far as my mothers mates went.

My mother's mates echoed her disapproval. Xavier, a vampire and Hades's son, stood at her side and narrowed his eyes at the Incubus King. "I believe the question is, where did you find humans at this stage in the game? They're all but extinct by now. The vampires are revolting and seeking what other few realms—even new ones, to attempt to survive. Here you are with food hanging off of your arm like nothing has happened."

Derek's laughter faded as he shoved the females away. "Go back to your master. Tell him I don't want his gifts."

Master?

I didn't get to ask what he meant, because a servant ushered me to my seat right in front of Lucifer's form.

The other chairs filled with familiar faces.

And some unfamiliar ones, too.

"This is Sarah and Vicki," Derek said, making my eyebrows pop up when Luke, my mother's half-angel mate, coughed into his napkin quite violently.

"Also my unresolved sins," my mother told me, by means of an explanation.

Oh.

I was relieved that the growing tension was interrupted by some other new arrivals.

Olivia walked in with Tervor on her arm, making my mood lighten, especially when Yuri skipped in behind them. She gave me a wink as she stuck out her tongue.

My heart twisted to see my friends again.

They didn't even comment on my appearance, although I knew Olivia and Yuri were dying to catch up with me.

Soon, I thought hopefully.

The demis joined the entourage at the table, including Ally and Zero who sat next to Trevor. I hadn't seen the other demigods in quite some time, but they looked tired.

Everyone was feeling the effects of this Echo of Calamity and it made a new pang of guilt rattle around in my chest.

The Dean walked in using the fiery portal my mother had created. She gave me an encouraging nod, reminding me that even someone who had once been an enemy could turn out to be on my side.

I glanced up at Lucifer, seeing him in a different light now that he couldn't try to kill me.

Although, he'd had plenty of chances, and he hadn't killed me even when he could have.

Was that because in some strange twist of fate, we could wind up on the same side?

Orion's words filtered back into my mind.

"It has always been Noctis's intention that the Champion and the Conduit work together, not against one another."

Together to what end? What could a goddess of creation and a god of death accomplish together?

Chewing my lip, I pondered that while the rest of the dinner guests joined the table.

Aaron, representing the panther shifters.

Jess and Cindy, representing the demonspawn.

Havarti, representing the succubi at the Academy, even though my mother technically could have filled that role—or even me.

But Havarti had been with the succubi starving at the Academy this whole time. She looked thin and her cheeks sunken in, and the area under her eyes were too dark.

We were missing my mates, but I didn't try to bring them in. Not yet.

"Everyone, thank you for coming," Derek said as he raised a glass in a toast. "Please find your seats and let us celebrate tonight. For tonight, we decide the future of all supernatural races."

A loud clap sounded from across the hall and everyone turned to stare at the source.

I sucked in a breath as Balthazar entered the room wearing my wings.

He had some of his own, of course, but mine were added like some sort of adornments. His closed tightly at his back, only allowing their talons to poke through.

My angel wing and Cole's donor demon wing stretched out over his shoulders as he continued to clap. "Yes, Incubus King. It's time to celebrate indeed."